Pur drying apparatus



NOV. 20, 1928 4 1,692,716

H. A. ALTER ET AL FUR DRYING APPARATUS Filed March '7. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 14/ 5/4 Am RYAZ 12 127271? M022]? Je /VIIJZWZ/WV NNNNNNN R5 Nov. 20, 1928. H. A. ALTER ET AL FUR DRYING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March '7. 1928 [mm A 192727 11/0221; Jm/M7% ATTO R N EY Patented Nov. 20, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY A. ALTER, OF YONKEBS, AND MORRIS SCHWARTZMAN, OF NEW' YORK, N, Y.

FUR-DRYING APPARATUS.

Application filed March 7, 1928. Serial No; 259.779. 7

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in the art of stretching and drying, and while the improvements herein set forth are of a general application, they have been found to be particularly advantageous in connection with the stretching and drying of pelts in the fur industry.

In common practice, skins or pelts are dried by stretching and tacking the pelts upon panels resting upon a support. After one side of the panel has been covered with pelts it is then carried to a heater and placed near the same to allow the pelts to dry, and

while these pelts are drying the operatorplaces another panel upon the support and proceeds to repeat the operation. After a number of these panels have been covered and placed near the heater it is necessary to shift the panels from time to time to keep the pelts nearest the heater from drying too rapidly as-this will cause the skins to stiffen.

Furthermore, this method of stretching and drying pelts requires a number of panels to be kept on hand, taking up valuable space for storage when not in use and also space around the heater when in use, besides a loss of time and labor in carrying the panels to and from the heater. v i

. Therefore, it is one of'the objects of our present invention to provide an apparatus in which the stretching and drying of skins or pelts may be accomplished in a relatively small space to that heretofore required.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus in which only one panel is required to receive and dry all pelts of which an experienced operator is capable of preparing for treatment.

A further object of the invention is to provide a fur drying device in which the pelts are subjected to an evenheat to thoroughly.

dry the same.

A further object of the invention resides in a combination work table and fur drying device, which may be used by furriers having limited floor space, as the removable top. of the work table serves as a panel to receive the furs to be dried, and when the cover is reversed, the furs on the underside will be subjected to the heat of an oven, while the opposite side of the panel is free to receive pelts for the next operation.

With these and other objects in view, the invention resides in certain novel construc tion and combination and arrangement of parts, the essential features of which are hereinafter fully described, are particularly point-ed outin the appended claims, and are Figure dis a vertical transverse sectional view on the line 14 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a similar view on the line 5-5 of Figure 3. 1

Referring to the drawings by reference characters, the numeral 10 designates our improved fur drying apparatus in its entirety, which includes a box-like cabinet or body supportedby legs 12. The sideand end walls of the cabinet are lined with spaced innerplat-es or walls 18 and are provided with ledges 14' adjacent the open top sides. ledges are adapted to reversibly support a removable cover or pelt receiving panel 15 flush with the top of the cabinet. The cover or panel 15 co-acts with the walls of the cabinet to provide an enclosed heating oven 16 through which heated air'is circulated in a manner to be presently explained.

The bottom wall proper 17 is provided with ope'n'ingsor slots 18 on opposite sides of its longitudinal center, beneath which a housing 19 is suspended. This housing is U-shape in cross section and extends the length of the bottom of the body to cover the openings 18. Supported within the oven 16 directly above the openings 18 areelectric heating elements 20 having reflectors mounted thereover to and bridges the openings 18 therein. However, the plate 21 is formed with elongated slots 22 for restricting atmospheric air blown into the housing 19, and which air enters the oven through the slots 22 where it is subjected to thedeflected heat from the heating elements 20. r

A fan housing 23 is supported from the housing 19 midway between the ends thereof so that it opens into the housing 19 beneath the bottom .17 which acts as a baffle for deflecting atmospheric air toward the inlet slots 22. A motor driven fan 2% is mounted within the fan housing and serves to suck atmospheric air through an inlet opening 25in The Q outlet openings 27 to permit of the escape of the fan housing and blow the same into the housing 19 and oven 16. The air inlet opening may be regulated by a sliding damper 26, as it maybe desired to proportion the atmospheric air with the heat produced by the heating units in order to control the temperature within the oven.

The opposed end walls of the cabinetor body are provided with a suitable number of heated air to maintain a circulating current of freshly heated air within the oven.

In practice, an operator turns on the electric switch 28 which controls the flow of current to the blower and electric heating elements which will start up a circulation of heated air within the oven 16, and while the 'oven is being heated to the proper degree, he

proceeds to stretch and tack pelts or furs 29 to the outer side of the panel 15. By the time he has completed this operation, he lifts the panel from the cabinet and reverses the same so thatthe pelts which he has tacked thereon are within the oven where they are subjected to the even heat of the same for drying. The operator then proceeds to stretch and tack more pelts or furs to the outer surface of the panel and by the time the operation is com- I so 'pleted, it is time to remove the dried pelts from the opposite side whereupon the panel is reversed, which positions the newly attached pelts to'the action of the heated oven, while the dried pelts are face up for removal. These operations are continued and merely require the services of a single operator, foras fast as the pelts on one sideof the panel are dried and pelts to be dried are fixed to N the opposite side, the panel is ready to be reversed and the dried peltsremoved. The fan 24 serves to maintain a circulation of heated air in the oven, the temperature of which may be known by mounting a thermometer 30 on one of the end walls and subjecting the mercury bulb to the heat within the oven. It will be appreciated that certain pelts require more or less heat than others to thoroughly dry them within a specified period of time,

and also the temperature of the atmospheric air may vary, at which time the regulator 26 may be adjusted to meet these conditions.

While we have described what we deem to be the most desirable embodiment of our invention, it is obvious that many of the details (itl may be varied Without in any way departing from the spirit of our invention, and we therefore do not limit ourselves to the exact details of construction herein set forth nor to anything less than the whole of our invention limited only by the appended claims.

What is claimed as new is z- 1. A fur drying apparatus comprising a cabinet, a reversible panel supported by said cabinet and adapted to support the pelts upon the underside thereof to dispose them within the interior of said cabinet, and means for circulating heated air through said cabinet to which the pelts are subjected.

2. A fur drying apparatus comprising a cabinet, a reversible panel supported by said cabinet for closing the open top of. the same, and adaptedto support the pelts upon the underside thereof, said cabinet having air inlet and outlet openings, heating elements mounted within said cabinet adjacent said air inlet openings, and means for forcing atmosphericair throughsaid inlet openings and past said heating elements to heat saidair and cause a circulation of the heated air within said cabinet to which the pelts'on the underside of said panel are subjected.

3. A fur drying apparatus comprising a cabinet, a reversible panel supported by said cabinet for closing the open top of the same, and adapted to support the pelts upon the underside thereof,- said cabinet having air inlet and outlet openings, heating elements mounted within said cabinet adjacent said air inlet openings, and means for forcing at mospheric air through said inlet openings and past said heatin elements to heat said air and cause a circulation of the heated air within said cabinet to which the pelts on the under-' means for forcing atmospheric air into said air inlet compartment and past said heating elements and into said oven compartment for circulation therein, said oven compart ment' having air exhaust openings therein.

5. A fur drying apparatus comprising a cabinet having an oven compartment and an air inlet compartment disposed therebeneath with communicating air passages therebetween, a removable panel supported by said cabinet with its inner pelt receiving surface disposed within said oven compartment, heating elements supported withing said even compartment adjacent the air passages, and means for forcing atmospheric a1r into said air inlet compartment and past said heating elements and into said oven compartment for circulation therein, said oven compartment having air exhaust openings therein, said means including a housing disposed beneath said cabinet and communicating with said air inlet compartment having an atmospheric air inlet opening therein, and'fan contained within said housing for sucking in atmospheric air through said atcommunicating air passages therebe mospheric air inlet and blowing the same into said air compartment.

6. ,A fur drying apparatus comprising a cabinet having an oven compartment and an air inlet compartment disposed therebeneath with communicating air passages therebetween, a removable panel supported by said cabinet with its inner pelt receiving surface disposed within said oven compartment, heating elements supported within said oven compartment adjacent the air passages, and means for forcing atmospheric air into said air inlet compartment and past said heating elements and into said oven compartment for circulation therein, said oven compartment having air exhaust openings therein, said means including a. housing disposed beneath said cabinet and communicating with said air inlet compartment having an atmospheric air inlet opening therein, and fan contained within said housing for sucking in atmospheric air through said atmospheric air inlet and blowing the same into said air compartment, and a regulator for controlling the flow of atmospheric air through said atmospheric air inlet.

7. In a fur drying apparatus, a heated oven, and a reversible panel constituting one of the Walls of said oven and adapted to have the pelts to be dried applied to the exterior side of the same and the panel reversed to dispose the pelts within the oven to subject them to the action oi? the heat therein.

8. An apparatus of the class described, comprising an open top cabinet and a reversible covering board therefor, adapted to hold articles to be exposed to the action of a conditioning agent within saidcabinet.

9. A fur drying apparatus comprising a cabinet, a reversible panel supported by said cabinet for closing the open topof the same and adapted to support the pelts upon the underside thereof, said cabinet having air inlet and outlet openings, heating element-s mounted within said cabinet, and means for causing atmospheric air to pass through said inlet openings and past said heating elements to heat said air and cause a circulation of the heated air Within said cabinet to which the pelts on the underside of said panel are subjected.

In testimony whereof We have aflixed our signatures.

HENRY A. ALTER. MORRIS SCHWARTZMAN. 

